11 replies to this topic

[billderer2020]

I have been in the food industry since 75 from Ice cream, fluid milk, seafood, spices, frozen cheese cake, My own Canning plant, slaughter, investigate Mad Cow Disease issues, RTE salads, bottled water, auditor with AIB and C&T at some point and my own business helping companies in recalls.  I have been in IFSQN under two or 3 different names but the knowledge and experience here can't be bought at any price.  One thing is for sure in this business.  It is not how much you know,  people want to know how much you care.  Also, A MBA, PhD or certified sanitarian or in ASQ Operation Excellence Certified Manager does not mean you know it ALL but where to find it is most important.

 

That being said, I love this open forum.  I have a problem.  The plant is processing product under a HACCP plan "heat treated-not fully cooked -not shelf stable".  Many packages lack Keep Frozen and Cook Thoroughly.  The ingredient panel on some uses 1/2 package as a unit of measure.  These and some other issues I have been able to resolve with Temp label approval or put an item on hold until a different package can be designed and approved by FSIS.  The ingredients, packaging and spec sheets are made in another country and the product is assembled in the US.

 

The new twist is a change in our seafood process.  We take raw seafood harvested in another country and package it for sale in the US.  If it came out of the ocean in X the the packaging information must show it came from X.  Under COOL that is also true.  The Seafood HACCP is for raw not ground.

 

Recently,  we receive seafood cooked in a country and we packaged it in a pouch with another country of origin. We did not have a cooked Seafood HACCP plan or environment monitoring.  I was told it does not fall under COOL so it is ok. An outside authority wrote a Cooked Seafood HACCP after the fact. There is no environmental monitoring in the plan and it is not signed.  I have not signed off on the shipment review and placed this cooked product on hold. 

Where does leave me. Legally,  I have  mis identified ingredients.   I have cooked product, no signed HACCP plan, no environmental monitoring, and product cooked in another country, packaged with product origin in yet another country.   Some suggestions.

[Charles.C]

So who or what is COOL ?

[Timwoodbag]

So who or what is COOL ?

 

https://www.ams.usda...egulations/cool

[billderer2020]

Thanks for getting back.  7CFR part 60.200(g) (h) if a product is further processed COOL does not apply.  Ok, if that is one leg BUT I have a bag these shrimp go into that says product of India.  A case of false advertising OR COOL does not apply as to where the shrimp came from.

 

Next leg is I do not have a cooked seafood HACCP with an environmental plan. If I make the plan and EMP after the product leaves the building can that product be covered because there are requirements that we do for labels(allergens) and metal detection, ss, NFE, FE.

Can someone answer this??

[Fishlady]

If your label claims Country of Origin, regardless of whether or not it is required, then the declaration needs to be truthful.  So, if the shrimp were not harvested and/or processed in India as stated on the label, then your label is wrong and subject to enforcement action.

Are you saying that the original producer did not have a HACCP plan to cover this item, or that you did not have your own HACCP plan to cover this item before you received it? 

If you are talking about the original producer, the importer (read consignee for the shipment) is required to have affirmative steps to show that the product was produced in compliance with the FDA Seafood HACCP regulation (21 CFR 123) before the product was brought into the country.  

If you are talking about not having your own HACCP plan prior to packing the product at your facility, then I would say that sometimes for a new product HACCP plans may not be finalized until after the product was produced, as you sometimes have to figure things out during production. (This is speaking from a legal perspective; if you are GFSI certified, then there are requirements to have the HACCP plan signed off before production.)  Did you at least keep records using the forms that you would normally use for a similar product, and which would be used per the plan you later wrote?  And have you done any environmental monitoring during or since this product was produced?

[billderer2020]

Are you saying that the original producer did not have a HACCP plan to cover this item, or that you did not have your own HACCP plan to cover this item before you received it? 

 

I don't have a cooked HACCP PLAN or one from the producer before we packed the product.   Just before a SQF audit a contractor gave us a COOKED HACCP PLAN AND A ENVIRONMENTAL MONTITORING P[LAN. There has been no EMP.  The plant packed the cooked shrimp for @ 3 months.  I could use some ideas to either put all product on hold or release it and fill out a HACCP plan and EMP.  I'm concerned about fraud.

[GMO]

I'm not sure of the specific requirements of the US but relabeling so the country of origin is false would be very clearly illegal under EU law.  I can't imagine it wouldn't be the same in the US.  The HACCP and other requirements I believe are different for the US but under UK / EU law a HACCP plan would be required.

 

Ultimately, trust your gut.  This doesn't feel right.

[kettlecorn]

I'm not in seafood, which is higher risk than the products I deal with, but the lack of EMP and HACCP demonstrates there are clearly not enough food safety protections in place. HACCP is a requirement for all seafood in the U.S. 

 

Also, labeling seafood (or anything else) as coming from anywhere but the actual country of origin is illegal in the U.S. unless the product is substantially transformed.

 

https://www.fda.gov/.../71994/download

 

If you look at section (g) of 7CFR part 60.200 you cite can see that it clarifies the labeling for seafood. Again, I'm not in seafood, so this is not the area of my expertise, but I absolutely would not sign off labeling seafood coming from Thailand as originating in India (or vice versa).

 

(g) Labeling Imported Products That Have Subsequently Been Substantially Transformed in the United States.

(1) [Reserved]

(2) Wild and Farm-Raised Fish and Shellfish: If a covered commodity was imported from country X and subsequently substantially transformed (as established by U.S. Customs and Border Protection) in the United States or aboard a U.S. flagged vessel, such product shall be labeled at retail as “From country X, processed in the United States.” Alternatively, the product may be labeled as “Product of country X and the United States”

[Fishlady]

Three months is too long a time to have processed without a HACCP plan. FDA considers seafood products that were not processed under HACCP to be adulterated, per regulation. You can look on the FDA website and find many examples of warning letters to that effect. Perhaps you should print off a few of them to show your management team if needed.

[billderer2020]

I thank everyone who responded to this question about COOL, cooked vs raw and legality.

I have encountered another "company" plan.

We have in frozen storage raw shrimp dated 2015.  Some product is packed in consumer bags with that year.   The plan is to transfer the raw frozen shrimp into new bags with a BB date on 2021.  I put a hold on the product but was told that the product is frozen and in good shape.  I look for some idea as to what is my next step.

Thanks for any ideas.

[Fishlady]

Check your state regulations. To my knowledge there are no federal regulations regarding best by dates, but I have been reading up on my state’s regulations and found that they prohibit changing best by dates on certain products at the retail level.

[Charles.C]

I thank everyone who responded to this question about COOL, cooked vs raw and legality.

I have encountered another "company" plan.

We have in frozen storage raw shrimp dated 2015.  Some product is packed in consumer bags with that year.   The plan is to transfer the raw frozen shrimp into new bags with a BB date on 2021.  I put a hold on the product but was told that the product is frozen and in good shape.  I look for some idea as to what is my next step.

Thanks for any ideas.

5 years old ?!

 

Was it B/F or IQF ? Shell-On ? Still well-glazed  ?

 

I suggest yr next step should be to examine/cook/taste a few, self-picked, samples yourself.